Vermont news

• State set to go over budget to fully fund homelessness program

  02-08-2017 22:08 via vtdigger.org
  ​Al Gobeille, the secretary of the Agency of Human Services, speaks at a news conference. File photo by Erin Mansfield/VTDiggerThe Department for Children and Families is planning to exceed one part of its current year budget to pay for an emergency housing program for families.
  The department, in conjunction with leadership of the Agency of Human Services, made the decision in July after about three weeks of pushback from anti-poverty advocates who said the emergency housing program is ba
  
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• VTDigger launches 2026 Vermont primary election guide

  28-07-2026 13:45 via vtdigger.org
  
  VTDigger has launched its 2026 Election Guide ahead of a primary election that features the first competitive Democratic gubernatorial primary in recent years. The two leading candidates have both raised significant sums of money, but polling shows many Vermonters remain undecided or don’t know the Democrats seeking the state’s top office. Who will be top of the ticket heading into November?The primary for governor is only one of the intriguing races to watch this year. A competitiv
  
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• How to vote in Vermont’s 2026 primary election

  28-07-2026 13:44 via vtdigger.org
  
  A ballot box for a local water bond is adorned with signs in Barre City on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont’s primary election is Aug. 11.
  There are two ways to vote:
  Early voting by mail or in person, from June 29 to Aug. 10In person at your polling place on Aug. 11
  All U.S. citizens who are residents of Vermont and will be 18 or older for the general election on Nov. 3, 2026, are eligible to register to vote in the primary election.Voter registrationTo v
  
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• Who is responsible for what in Vermont’s government? Here’s a guide for Vermonters preparing to vote.

  28-07-2026 13:43 via vtdigger.org
  
  Voters fill out their ballots in Rutland on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. FIle photo by Caleb Kenna/VTDiggerThere are six elected officers in Vermont who serve the entire state, along with 180 state legislators who represent smaller districts. These positions are filled through a general election every two years in November. Counties hold elections as well for most of their top elected offices every four years. Those county elections are happening in 2026. The state’s three major parties choose
  
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• End of immigration program forces difficult choices for Vermont residents

  28-07-2026 00:04 via vtdigger.org
  
  People hold Haitian flags and signs during a rally in support of immigrants living in the United States with temporary protected status, or TPS, Thursday, July 9, 2026, in San Diego. Photo by Gregory Bull/APA decades-old federal immigration program that allowed more than 200 residents in Vermont to live and work in the state ends today, meaning many on the program will have to decide whether to stay in the country illegally or return to countries marred by violence. “It is hard to im
  
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• End of immigration program forces difficult choices for Vermont residents

  28-07-2026 00:04 via vtdigger.org
  
  People hold Haitian flags and signs during a rally in support of immigrants living in the United States with temporary protected status, or TPS, Thursday, July 9, 2026, in San Diego. Photo by Gregory Bull/APA decades-old federal immigration program that allowed more than 200 residents in Vermont to live and work in the state ends today, meaning many on the program will have to decide whether to stay in the country illegally or return to countries marred by violence. “It is hard to im
  
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• Vermont’s tax burden is driving families away

  27-07-2026 23:48 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,My wife and I recently moved our part-time residence from Moretown to Bennington. And we noticed that the relatively new anti-tax fervor has grown here in Bennington, too.I don’t see the Legislature rolling back funding for any departments or programs. That means property taxes will remain wickedly high. More and more, the state will become a home for the poor and seniors, who are unable to move, and for the rich, who can afford a luxurious second home. The working middle clas
  
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• Vermont’s tax burden is driving families away

  27-07-2026 23:48 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,My wife and I recently moved our part-time residence from Moretown to Bennington. And we noticed that the relatively new anti-tax fervor has grown here in Bennington, too.I don’t see the Legislature rolling back funding for any departments or programs. That means property taxes will remain wickedly high. More and more, the state will become a home for the poor and seniors, who are unable to move, and for the rich, who can afford a luxurious second home. The working middle clas
  
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• Blake Hill Preserves prepares to move after employee furloughs

  27-07-2026 23:37 via vtdigger.org
  
  A Blake Hill Preserves employee, who declined to be identified, locks the door to the jam manufacturer’s retail store after moving furniture out of the building at Artisan’s Park in Windsor, Vt., on Monday, July 20, 2026. The store was closed in March. Photo by: James M. Patterson/Valley NewsThis story by Sofia Langlois was first published in the Valley News on July 26, 2026.WINDSOR — Blake Hill Preserves is preparing to move to an undisclosed location following a furlough of
  
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• Blake Hill Preserves prepares to move after employee furloughs

  27-07-2026 23:37 via vtdigger.org
  
  A Blake Hill Preserves employee, who declined to be identified, locks the door to the jam manufacturer’s retail store after moving furniture out of the building at Artisan’s Park in Windsor, Vt., on Monday, July 20, 2026. The store was closed in March. Photo by: James M. Patterson/Valley NewsThis story by Sofia Langlois was first published in the Valley News on July 26, 2026.WINDSOR — Blake Hill Preserves is preparing to move to an undisclosed location following a furlough of
  
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• It’s our moral duty to vote in Vermont’s Aug. 11 primary

  27-07-2026 23:15 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Liza Cochran, a teacher, writer and community organizer who lives in Lincoln. She co-authors Brave Little Voices on Substack. While out canvassing recently, I spoke to a lifelong Vermonter who said he hadn’t given much thought to the upcoming primary election on Aug. 11. It’s not that he doesn’t care, he explained, but he was too busy staying abreast of Washington politics. I get it. I have this impulse, too: to train my attention on the biggest
  
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• It’s our moral duty to vote in Vermont’s Aug. 11 primary

  27-07-2026 23:15 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Liza Cochran, a teacher, writer and community organizer who lives in Lincoln. She co-authors Brave Little Voices on Substack. While out canvassing recently, I spoke to a lifelong Vermonter who said he hadn’t given much thought to the upcoming primary election on Aug. 11. It’s not that he doesn’t care, he explained, but he was too busy staying abreast of Washington politics. I get it. I have this impulse, too: to train my attention on the biggest
  
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• Audit reveals Brattleboro hospital’s multiyear budget deficit has risen to at least $30 million

  27-07-2026 22:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  A crowd of about 100 people rally July 14 in support of the birthing center at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerBRATTLEBORO — As town leaders weigh a proposed municipal tax hike to help the fiscally ailing Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, administrators at the southeastern Vermont healthcare hub estimate their multiyear budget deficit has risen to at least $30 million.The hospital has yet to submit a spending plan to the state for the coming fiscal year,
  
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• Audit reveals Brattleboro hospital’s multiyear budget deficit has risen to at least $30 million

  27-07-2026 22:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  A crowd of about 100 people rally July 14 in support of the birthing center at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerBRATTLEBORO — As town leaders weigh a proposed municipal tax hike to help the fiscally ailing Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, administrators at the southeastern Vermont healthcare hub estimate their multiyear budget deficit has risen to at least $30 million.The hospital has yet to submit a spending plan to the state for the coming fiscal year,
  
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• A Department of Corrections policy is quietly reshaping how long people are incarcerated in Vermont

  27-07-2026 13:38 via vtdigger.org
  
  Former Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad speaks at a press conference in Burlington in August 2024. Murad is currently the commissioner of Vermont’s Department of Corrections. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerWhen the man signed a plea deal from a Vermont prison in May 2025, he thought he knew what he was agreeing to. He was already incarcerated when he pleaded guilty to fentanyl trafficking, burglary and carrying a weapon during the commission of a felony, agreeing to serve a min
  
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• A Department of Corrections policy is quietly reshaping how long people are incarcerated in Vermont

  27-07-2026 13:38 via vtdigger.org
  Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad speaks at a press conference in Burlington in August 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerWhen the man signed a plea deal from a Vermont prison in May 2025, he thought he knew what he was agreeing to. He was already incarcerated when he pleaded guilty to fentanyl trafficking, burglary and carrying a weapon during the commission of a felony, agreeing to serve a minimum of three years and a maximum of 10 years incarcerated. While his full name appears i
  
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• An insurance card is not an appointment

  26-07-2026 15:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Matt Swenson, who is the founder of Omnidex Solutions, a risk diagnostics company. He lives in Vermont.Vermont’s healthcare debate has spent a decade stuck on the wrong question. The political class argues about who should pay the bill. Patients are asking something simpler: Can I actually see a doctor?Insurance is not care. Coverage is not capacity. A promise from the government does not create a primary care appointment, a hospital bed, a nurse or an operating room
  
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• An insurance card is not an appointment

  26-07-2026 15:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Matt Swenson, who is the founder of Omnidex Solutions, a risk diagnostics company. He lives in Vermont.Vermont’s healthcare debate has spent a decade stuck on the wrong question. The political class argues about who should pay the bill. Patients are asking something simpler: Can I actually see a doctor?Insurance is not care. Coverage is not capacity. A promise from the government does not create a primary care appointment, a hospital bed, a nurse or an operating room
  
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• Norwich sets $250 fee for short-term rentals

  26-07-2026 15:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  Priscilla Vincent raises her hand with a question, at left, during a public comment period before the Selectboard at Tracy Hall on a proposed zoning bylaw to regulate short-term rentals in Norwich, Vt., on Wednesday, July 23, 2026. Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Steven True is at right. The Selectboard voted to approve the bylaw for a two-year period which will require owners of such accommodations to register the property, submit to an inspection, and pay a $250 fee. Photo by: Jame
  
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• Norwich sets $250 fee for short-term rentals

  26-07-2026 15:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  Priscilla Vincent raises her hand with a question, at left, during a public comment period before the Selectboard at Tracy Hall on a proposed zoning bylaw to regulate short-term rentals in Norwich, Vt., on Wednesday, July 23, 2026. Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Steven True is at right. The Selectboard voted to approve the bylaw for a two-year period which will require owners of such accommodations to register the property, submit to an inspection, and pay a $250 fee. Photo by: Jame
  
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• Then Again: When a mysterious killer stalked the men of Bristol

  26-07-2026 14:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  A group of men pause to pose and enjoy a drink in a photo taken circa 1900-1910. In 1903, Vermont ended the longstanding statewide prohibition of the sale or consumption of alcohol for anything except “medicinal, chemical or mechanical purposes.” Replacing it was a “local option” law, whereby individual communities voted whether to ban alcohol within their boundaries. Photo courtesy of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum/Vermont Historical SocietyThe first signs of trouble we
  
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• Then Again: When a mysterious killer stalked the men of Bristol

  26-07-2026 14:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  A group of men pause to pose and enjoy a drink in a photo taken circa 1900-1910. In 1903, Vermont ended the longstanding statewide prohibition of the sale or consumption of alcohol for anything except “medicinal, chemical or mechanical purposes.” Replacing it was a “local option” law, whereby individual communities voted whether to ban alcohol within their boundaries. Photo courtesy of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum/Vermont Historical SocietyThe first signs of trouble we
  
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• ‘Fertile period’ in Rutland City 25 years ago served as backdrop for photographer’s surreal scenes of suburban life

  26-07-2026 13:33 via vtdigger.org
  
  GREGORY CREWDSON, Untitled, 2002, Digital pigment print, image size 40 x 25 in. © Gregory CrewdsonOver the course of several weeks in the summer of 2001, photographer Gregory Crewdson captured unsettling and surreal scenes of American suburban life in a ranch-style home in Rutland. The series made in Rutland included pictures of a stunned Tilda Swinton looking toward the sky out of frame, with her hand gently resting on a car hood. One photo shows a weary Phillip Seymour-Hoffman droop
  
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• ‘Fertile period’ in Rutland City 25 years ago served as backdrop for photographer’s surreal scenes of suburban life

  26-07-2026 13:33 via vtdigger.org
  
  GREGORY CREWDSON, Untitled, 2002, Digital pigment print, image size 40 x 25 in. © Gregory CrewdsonOver the course of several weeks in the summer of 2001, photographer Gregory Crewdson captured unsettling and surreal scenes of American suburban life in a ranch-style home in Rutland. The series made in Rutland included pictures of a stunned Tilda Swinton looking toward the sky out of frame, with her hand gently resting on a car hood. One photo shows a weary Phillip Seymour-Hoffman droop
  
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• ‘The worst possible catch-22’: Fish and Wildlife struggles to combat bear rumors

  26-07-2026 12:45 via vtdigger.org
  
  A bear enjoying a dumpster feast earlier this year in Eden, Vermont. Photo by S. Chambers, courtesy of Vermont Fish and Wildlife.As bear-human incidents continue at record rates, the state Fish and Wildlife Department is encountering public misperception that is leading Vermonters to avoid reporting minor bear activity because they fear the bear will be killed.This often leads to “the worst possible catch-22 for the bears,” said Joshua Morse, public information officer for the depar
  
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• ‘The worst possible catch-22’: Fish and Wildlife struggles to combat bear rumors

  26-07-2026 12:45 via vtdigger.org
  
  A bear enjoying a dumpster feast earlier this year in Eden, Vermont. Photo by S. Chambers, courtesy of Vermont Fish and Wildlife.As bear-human incidents continue at record rates, the state Fish and Wildlife Department is encountering public misperception that is leading Vermonters to avoid reporting minor bear activity because they fear the bear will be killed.This often leads to “the worst possible catch-22 for the bears,” said Joshua Morse, public information officer for the depar
  
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• Vermont expands housing investment program

  25-07-2026 13:06 via vtdigger.org
  
  Vermont State Treasurer Mike Pieciak chats before a groundbreaking ceremony at the Cambrian Way housing complex in Burlington in August 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story by Chris Mays was first published in the Brattleboro Reformer on July 21, 2026.BERLIN — An additional $25 million is now available in low-interest financing to help spur new housing, job creation and affordability across Vermont. “Our state continues to be in desperate need of more housing,&r
  
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• Vermont expands housing investment program

  25-07-2026 13:06 via vtdigger.org
  
  Vermont State Treasurer Mike Pieciak chats before a groundbreaking ceremony at the Cambrian Way housing complex in Burlington in August 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story by Chris Mays was first published in the Brattleboro Reformer on July 21, 2026.BERLIN — An additional $25 million is now available in low-interest financing to help spur new housing, job creation and affordability across Vermont. “Our state continues to be in desperate need of more housing,&r
  
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• Dartmouth students push back against medical school admissions probe

  25-07-2026 00:54 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Geisel School of Medicine admissions office at Dartmouth College occupies part of the former Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Hanover, N.H., on Thursday, July 23, 2026. Photo by James M. Patterson / Valley NewsThis story by Sofia Langlois was first published in the Valley News on July 24, 2026.Amid a federal investigation into the Geisel School of Medicine for racial discrimination in its admissions practices, some Dartmouth community members are speaking out against a narrative that peo
  
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• Dartmouth students push back against medical school admissions probe

  25-07-2026 00:54 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Geisel School of Medicine admissions office at Dartmouth College occupies part of the former Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Hanover, N.H., on Thursday, July 23, 2026. Photo by James M. Patterson / Valley NewsThis story by Sofia Langlois was first published in the Valley News on July 24, 2026.Amid a federal investigation into the Geisel School of Medicine for racial discrimination in its admissions practices, some Dartmouth community members are speaking out against a narrative that peo
  
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